GardenFork – Eclectic DIY

Tag: hoop house greenhouse

  • A Simple Way To Insulate Your Hoop House With This Curtis Stone Video

    A Simple Way To Insulate Your Hoop House With This Curtis Stone Video

    Rick and I were talking on the GF Radio podcast about the success of his mini greenhouse, and how using 2 layers of  plastic, separated by some wood supports, had added an insulation layer. I immediately thought of a video I saw on Curtis Stone’s YouTube channel about how he uses a double layer of plastic in his very successful market garden operation. Here is the video:

    Curtis uses a fan to force air between the two layers of greenhouse plastic, which reduces heat loss through the plastic. Think of it as air as insulation. I think you can do this on a small scale, but the key is to pick a fan that works for your size greenhouse. Here is a good starting point for fans you can connect to your greenhouse plastic.

    I’m wondering if you have a small greenhouse, could you hook up a bathroom fan you’ve pulled out of a dumpster? I’ve got a few from some renovation projects sitting here looking at me. One of them worked really well on the homemade sap evaporator, but we have more to put to use.

    I have built several what I call mini-greenhouses, aka hoop houses, to cover our raised beds. And of course, we have videos about all of them here. Considering the size of my raised beds, 4′ wide x 12′, I’m not sure using a fan to insulate the layers of plastic would be a good use of electricity. Maybe we could go solar with the fan?

    I am a big fan of Curtis Stone, and how he shares so much info on his YouTube channel. He also has in-person classes if you are serious about becoming a market gardener. I’ve learned better methods on how to grow carrots and salad greens from Curtis.

    He has turned his yard, and those of a few of his neighbors, into farmland, basically. Gone is the grass and instead there are rows of vegetables. This doesn’t go over well with everyone, but I’m all about a smaller lawn.

  • Hoop House Greenhouse FAQ – GF Radio 319

    Hoop House Greenhouse FAQ – GF Radio 319

    Build your own hoop house greenhouse is today’s topic. Matt tells us how to build a greenhouse out of pipe and plastic. He is building a hoop house greenhouse using off the shelf items to save money and its going well. Matt shares what he has learned in building a greenhouse that you can apply when you build your hoop house.

    Matt is using fence pipe bought at the home improvement store. He says there are lots of good kits out there, but it gets expensive quickly, and half the fun of a hoop house greenhouse is in planning and building something you designed yourself. Matt saved quite a bit of money by going the DIY route and based his ideas on those of Eliot Coleman.

    Matt's Hoop House GreenHouse photo ©2013 Matt Cuba
    Matt’s Hoop House GreenHouse photo ©2013 Matt Cuba

    Why Build a Hoop House Greenhouse?

    The motivation was to have better foods in the winter than is available at the grocery store in winter, as hoop houses allow you to extend your growing season.

    Siting the greenhouse is important, Matt built his on a slight slope that faces south, and did a bit of leveling of the foundation. He used fence pipe driven into the ground to accept the top fence rail pipe that he had curved into the hoop shape. He chose not to use PVC pipe, thinking the metal pipe would be more sturdy. The curved pipes are spaced 2′ apart. The jig he built to curve the pipe is a simple plywood curve, or a wood form. He found that curving the pipe to something slightly larger than the desired curve allowed the hoops to be slid into the base pipes with tension, helping to keep the pipes in the base pipes.

    Matt has two large blue water barrels in the hoop house to create a thermal mass. The barrels absorb solar heat during the day, and give off that heat at night, helping to keep the hoop house greenhouse warmer. He decided to not use regular clear plastic, and opted for the UV stable greenhouse plastic available at greenhouse supply stores. He also used a channel system called willow wire to hold the plastic onto the hoop house frame. You can follow Matt and his adventures on Twitter here .